• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Briefing
  • In Depth
  • Travel
    • Americas & Caribbean
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • Red Sea & Africa
    • DIVE Travel Awards
  • Equipment
    • Kit Reviews
  • Learning
  • UW Photography
    • Featured Photographers
    • Featured Videographer
    • Underwater Camera Gear
  • Destination Guides
    • Egypt
      • Introduction
      • Sinai, Sharm & Dahab
      • Hurghada and the Bays
      • Liveaboards
      • Marine life
      • Wreck Dives
    • St Helena
      • Introduction
      • Topside
      • Dive Sites
      • Marine Life
      • Wreck Dives
      • Whale Sharks
    • Fiji
      • Introduction
      • Bligh Water, Lomativiti, Lau Groups
      • Beqa Lagoon & Kadavu Group
      • Taveuni & The Somosomo Strait
      • Mamanuca & Yasawa Group
      • Marine Life
    • Mexico
      • Introduction
      • Revillagigedos & Guadalupe
      • Sea of Cortez & Baja California
      • Cozumel • Riviera Maya • Isla Mujeres
      • Central Pacific
      • Cenote diving
    • Philippines
      • Philippines Introduction
      • Need to Know
      • Top dives
      • Marine Life
      • Coron Bay wrecks
      • Topside
      • Video playlist
DIVE Magazine logo

DIVE Magazine

Scuba Diving Luxury Travel Magazine

Basking sharks travel in family groups

7 February 2020
2 minutes

basking sharks travel in family groups
Basking sharks are the second-largest fish in the world (Photo: Martin Prochazkacz/Shutterstock)

By Mark 'Crowley' Russell

Research led by scientists from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, UK, suggests that basking sharks may travel extended distances and gather in family groups, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. 

Advertisement

Basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) are the second-largest species of fish after the whale shark and, like the whale shark, are filter feeders. They are distributed around the world in temperate waters and spend much of their lives alone, but over the summer months gather in numbers in areas rich with plankton, where they display social and – possibly – mating behaviour patterns.

While the basking shark is known to range across vast distances, a lack of research into its movement patterns could not confirm if the aggregations were a deliberate seasonal migration to a favoured location, or the result of random movement leading to an area rich in food. Satellite tagging has shown that the behaviour is increasingly likely to be migrational, with documented evidence of two tagged sharks returning to within 30km of the same area of the Northeast Atlantic. This information is particularly important for conservation of the species, as it may assist with the location and extent of new Marine Protected Areas.

  • Related: Basking Shark Study Observes Courtship Behaviour
Basking shark and snorkellers
Basking sharks are relatives of the great white, but pose little threat to humans (Photo: Mark William Kirkland/Shutterstock)

Satellite tagging can provide valuable location data but is limited in scope because the tags are temporary. To confirm whether or not an individual shark had returned to the same area every year, the researchers took genetic samples from sharks during the aggregations over six years between 2009 and 2014. 

The genetic samples were taken by swabbing the mucus which covers the skin of the sharks, described to the BBC interview as ‘a breakthrough’ by Dr Lilian Lieber of Queen’s University, Belfast, one of the report’s lead authors. ‘We routinely swabbed aggregations of sharks quickly and with minimal disturbance, to obtain genetic profiles of individuals travelling together.’

The sampling not only confirmed that individual animals displayed ‘inter-annual site fidelity’ – in other words, they came back repeatedly to the same area – it also showed that sharks gathering in each location were ‘on average more related than expected by chance’. The study suggests that the familial relationship between individuals gathered in a particular location may be the result of 

‘Perhaps relatives hang out together,’ Dr Catherine Jones, co-author of the study, told the BBC, ‘which could facilitate learning migration routes and encourage other cooperative behaviours. This means there’s more going on in basking shark aggregations than first appears.’

Advertisement

  • About
  • Latest Posts
Mark 'Crowley' Russell
Mark 'Crowley' Russell
Crowley (known to his mum as Mark), packed in his IT job in 2005 and spent the next nine years working as a full-time scuba diving professional. He started writing for DIVE in 2010 and hasn't stopped since.
Mark 'Crowley' Russell
Latest posts by Mark 'Crowley' Russell (see all)
  • Scuba diving drug mule found drowned in Australia - 10 May 2022
  • Ras Mohammed diving suspended due to shark attack risk - 2 May 2022
  • Malta P-33 wreck smashed by storms - 27 April 2022

Filed Under: Briefing, Marine Life Tagged With: Basking Sharks, Sharks

Related articles

International shipping threat to endangered whale sharks

International shipping threat to endangered whale sharks

Ras Mohammed diving suspended due to shark attack risk

Ras Mohammed diving suspended due to shark attack risk

Shark Trust’s great Easter eggcase hunt

Shark Trust’s great Easter eggcase hunt

Study shows need for whale shark population monitoring

Study shows need for whale shark population monitoring

Take part in the Shark Trust’s Great Shark Snapshot

Take part in the Shark Trust’s Great Shark Snapshot

Basking sharks protected in Ireland

Basking sharks protected in Ireland

  • About
  • Latest Posts
Mark 'Crowley' Russell
Mark 'Crowley' Russell
Crowley (known to his mum as Mark), packed in his IT job in 2005 and spent the next nine years working as a full-time scuba diving professional. He started writing for DIVE in 2010 and hasn't stopped since.
Mark 'Crowley' Russell
Latest posts by Mark 'Crowley' Russell (see all)
  • Scuba diving drug mule found drowned in Australia - 10 May 2022
  • Ras Mohammed diving suspended due to shark attack risk - 2 May 2022
  • Malta P-33 wreck smashed by storms - 27 April 2022

Footer

sq kemps ridleys

FOLLOW DIVE

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Want to access DIVE on your tablet or smartphone? Press the Apple, Android or PC/Mac image below to download the app for your device

Footer Apple Footer Android Footer Mac-PC

More from DIVE

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With DIVE Magazine
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Copyright © 2022 · Site by Syon Media